Charity - Sundays With John Ball

One idea that is central to the Christian faith, the teachings of Christ, and the life of Christ, is Charity.
In some modern translations Charity is translated as Love. Unfortunately Love is too vague for such a great word as Charity.
Charity is giving in love.
Charity is the love we give to each other, not just those small tender words which are so important, but  the practical active love of providing for each other.
Charity is what God gives us through Jesus Christ. Christ's action of dying on the cross for us is the supreme act of charity, the supreme act of God's love. Through Christ's sacrifice we know that God is love.
God’s love is ever giving. He judges, but does not condemn. He provides us with all our needs. His love is unconditional. His love is life itself.
Jesus frequently told his disciples not to worry about material wealth, just to keep on giving.
Give all your money away. That seems like an act of insane faith in this age of buy and sell, this age of individuals isolated by their position in the Hierarchy, individuals used to looking out for themselves. But in the days of Christian communities that were genuine communities, giving was genuinely liberating, rather than merely suicidal.
Give no thought for the morrow. Just keep on giving, whether its your coins to Caesar, or your Widow’s Mite.
It was like floating on air, or walking on water.
It doesn't matter who you give to, rich or poor, powerful or weak, just give what you can. There's no need to means test your giving.
Yes, by letting His Son, indeed Himself, bear the burden of our sin, God gave us His supreme love, the greatest act of Charity the world has ever known.
And through his love we can return to Eden, to God’s world before the Fall, before the loss of faith, before the idolatry of Adam and Eve.
It is our lack of faith, our turning inwards that leads to the tyranny of hierarchy and authority. Our lack of faith is our sin, our lack of trust in God, our idolatry of ourselves, our passivity, our selfishness. But through faith in Jesus we can return to the state of grace before the Fall, a state of unrestrained Charity.